Kremlin vows not to interfere in Ukraine's affairs

MOSCOW, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Russia is concerned with situation in Ukraine, including rise of Russophobia there, but is not going to intervene in Kiev's domestic affairs, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

"Russia is watching what is happening in Ukraine with concern. We hope that our Ukrainian partners can resolve the situation as quickly as possible," Peskov told a local FM radio station.

He said Moscow would continue to help the "brotherly nation."

The official said Moscow would take into consideration possible appeals from Kiev regarding granting assistance and providing services, but "only if these appeals come from Ukrainians themselves."

Russia wants to see Ukraine as a "prosperous, stable, democratic, rich and very close to us spiritually, economically and so on," Peskov said, noting that Russia hopes that Ukraine will not split into two parts but keeps its territorial integrity.

Still, Peskov said, Moscow is anxious about Ukraine's rapidly growing debt for Russian natural gas supply and definitely is not going to revise the terms of the gas deal.

"If the current documents are complied with, no one will have any reason to revise anything. That is definite," Peskov assured.

Meanwhile, Kremlin is concerned with a Russophobia "cultivated from the outside and inside of Ukraine," he added.

On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry lambasted Ukrainian radical opposition for attempts to inflame crisis in that country and slammed the West for biased approach to the situation.

Protests in Ukraine, which began last November to back the country's European integration, turned violent in mid-January when radical activists attacked police with fireworks and petrol bombs.